A card shuffler has a drivable shuffling storage means ( 2 ′) which is provided with compartments ( 69 ) for receiving cards ( 13 ). The storage means is associated with an input apparatus for the insertion of cards one by one into the compartments ( 69 ) and an output apparatus spaced from the same for the shuffled cards, with the drive of the shuffling storage means ( 2 ′), the input apparatus and the output apparatus being controlled by a microprocessor. The number of shuffled cards supplied to the output apparatus at a time is adjusted to be the number of cards necessary per player for the respective card game. In order to improve the shuffling result in such a shuffler it is provided that the cards supplied to the output apparatus are taken from at least two compartments ( 69 ) of the shuffling storage means ( 2 ′).
1. A method performed by a card shuffler, the card shuffler having a movable storage device with compartments, the method comprising:
a. receiving unshuffled cards in an input portion of the shuffler;
b. transporting a card from the input portion to the movable storage device;
c. controlling movement of the storage device such that a transported card is received by a randomly selected radial compartment and clamping cards within said selected radial compartments;
d. controlling movement of the storage device to output at least one card from a randomly selected compartment to an output portion; and
e. repeating step d one or more times until an entire hand of cards is deposited in the output portion, a hand being the initial number of cards a player needs to play a particular game for which the shuffler is being used,
further comprising sensing an absence of cards in the output portion and performing step d to supply cards to the output portion, and wherein a spring is provided with a bend-off which covers radially outer openings of the compartments and prevents cards from being ejected outwardly by centrifugal force during rotation of the carousel.